inboundJenna PerusOctober 24, 2018

Inbound Marketing yields results

inboundJenna PerusOctober 24, 2018

inbound marketing yields results pt. 1

The customer determines the purchasing process

Buying behavior is not what it used to be. The way people communicate today is connected to the change in people’s expectations towards your business. Adjusting to the customer’s increased power within the purchasing process is central to inbound marketing. Exactly what is inbound marketing, and what it is not, will become clear to you after reading this blog.

The field of marketing has drastically changed over the past ten years. With globalised competitive landscape and consumerization of purchasing, product-centric marketing has become outdated. Digitalisation enables a full availability of information. For the customers, everything they need to know is at hand online. Therefore businesses selling products have lost their role as the primary information provider.

Customers are online, seeking for insightful, relevant content to either educate or entertain. To survive and succeed in the world of infinite information, your business needs to shift to storytelling. Providing meaningful, interesting content engages the attention of your potential customers.

Earlier, a customer buying journey started with turning to a seller company and waiting for a salesperson to guide you through the process. Today, a buyer has all the power over the purchasing process. Social Media provides channels to search for and compare products and brands before ever contacting the companies that sell the products.

More often than not, the journey begins with search engines. First looking for relevant information on products and services as well as brands. Then, moving on to websites, blogs and social media services where companies provide customer-centric information. Whether the purchasing process is B2C or B2B, it’s mostly carried out using search engines and social media channels. There’s more information available than anyone could ever need. Customers decide what kind of information they want to consume, and when they want it. The customer rules the buying process.

What are b2b salespeople good for anymore?

B2B buyers are well-informed on the variety of companies and their offerings. Potential customers rarely contact sellers right from the start. They rather search for and compare information on the web. If your company doesn't provide valuable information for a potential customer on demand, you’re already losing the race.

With globalisation and digitalisation, the supply and selection are both expanding. It’s positive from the buyers perspective. Digital communication channels enable availability of necessary information at any time. Everything’s only a few clicks away. Therefore customers also have a tendency to go from a supplier to another. That poses a challenge for marketing and sales.

Traditionally, a seller has held the key role as an information provider. In the recent years, a shift in the seller buyer relations has occurred. Today, the one possessing the power is the customer. B2B companies are facing new challenges as the buyers are less and less dependent on the expertise they possess.

Leafing through a print catalogue is hardly anyone’s main source of information. Everything worth knowing is most likely available online. And if not for free, then in exchange for your contact information or a small fee. A customer rarely contacts a seller in the early stages of their buying journey. The truth is, the role of a seller is not what it used to be. Up to half of the purchasing process can take place without ever contacting a seller company.

Does it mean that there is no need for B2B salespeople anymore?

Nope, it doesn’t. It’s true, the customer has the power over the purchasing process. Yet especially when buying complex expert services the knowledge and guidance of a salesperson is required and asked for. But it happens on the customer's terms.

This shift in the power relations forces companies to renovate their marketing and sales activities. It’s essential to understand how and when approaching a customer is experienced valuable and will converts sales for your company.

In the field of marketing, customer experience plays a major role today and more so in the future. The salespeople have a significant role in the process - and for the outcome. They evaluate where a customer is in their buying journey, and how and when it’s optimal to contact the potential customer.

What is Inbound Marketing, anyway?

Inbound marketing aims to avoid direct sales oriented and brand-centric communications. Whereas traditional marketing is a one-way ticket, modern marketing is interactive and seeks to build dialogue.

Inbound marketing is about attracting the potential customers to engage with your content. What it is not, is pushing or forcing your message. That’s out of the question. Instead, the aim is to attract the customers to take spontaneous interest in your content because of the value it offers.

Marketing should genuinely serve and help the customer. It should be interactive and - remember this - a pleasant experience for the customer. Inbound content focuses on your customers’ needs, solving their problems and providing valuable solutions. The purpose of your content is to nurture your customers from the very beginning - and build customer relationships to last.

While the customers are already online, inbound marketing aims to attract the customers to read, listen or watch your content. Central to inbound marketing is the potential customer’s consent to receive the information you provide. Inbound marketing is virtually any tactic that's based on earning the customer’s attention.

Customers are looking to get entertained or educated through meaningful and useful content. Companies need to shift from the interruptive product-centric marketing to storytelling. This way you'll provide the potential customers with interesting and engaging content.

Each stage of a customer buying journey requires a certain type of content. To determine how to nurture the customers throughout the process calls for insight. Measuring the impact of your content is essential, and relevant indicators must be found to succeed in marketing.

Leads and sales through Inbound Marketing

Buying is often a self-service. To exceed customer expectations, you need to re-think your marketing processes. Customers value information that is accessible, global, flawless and timely served. They value smooth user interfaces and personalised service, delivered 24/7. Whatever the process, the focus should be on customer-centricity, value creation and developing the customer insight.

The current changes in the buying behavior enable better customer relationship management with marketing automation. Resources can be allocated to attend to the most potential accounts and personal contacts. Most businesses have a broad customer base that could be better served with digital customer relationship management (CRM). Digital CRM means utilising modern technology to target and personalize customer messaging and better cater customer needs.

Digital CRM enables significant cost-effectiveness through allocating personal sales resources to customer segments that are most probable to convert sales for the company. Based on the customer’s reactions, the sales team can choose to contact only the customers who are considered to be in the right stage in their buying journey, and the ones that are the most interesting for the company.

The end goal of inbound marketing is to convert leads for the sales team and to ultimately drive sales growth. Inbound content aims at increasing demand and identifying potential customers to nudge closer to a purchase through sales and other relevant content. From the customer perspective, the value of inbound marketing is that the content is educative and helps with reaching one’s goals or is useful in solving one’s challenges. The key is to bring about change in the customer, one content at a time.

inbound marketing checklist:

Don’t push your message. Provide meaningful, interesting content to engage the attention of your potential customers.
Start from the customer needs. Produce content with the focus on your customer; solve their problems and provide valuable solutions.
Marketing should genuinely serve and help the customer. It should be interactive and a pleasant experience for the customer.